1. Field
A refrigerator is disclosed herein.
2. Background
In general, a refrigerator has a plurality of storage compartments to accommodate food to be stored so as to store the food in a frozen or refrigerated state. The storage compartment may have one surface that is open to receive or dispense the food. The plurality of storage compartments may include a freezer compartment to store food in the frozen state, and a refrigerator compartment to store food in the refrigerated state.
A refrigeration system, in which a refrigerant is circulated, is driven in the refrigerator. The refrigeration system may include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator. The evaporator may include a first evaporator disposed at a side of the refrigerator compartment and a second evaporator disposed at a side of the freezer compartment.
Cool air stored in the refrigerator compartment may be cooled while passing through the first evaporator, and the cooled cool air may be supplied again into the refrigerator compartment. Also, the cool air stored in the freezer compartment may be cooled while passing through the second evaporator, and the cooled cool air may be supplied again into the freezer compartment.
As described above, in the refrigerator according to the related art, independent cooling may be performed in the plurality of storage compartments through separate evaporators. Also, the plurality of storage compartments are not simultaneously cooled, but rather, one storage compartment or the other storage compartment is selectively or alternately cooled.
In this case, although the storage compartment in which the cooling is performed is maintained to or at an adequate temperature, the storage compartment in which the cooling is not performed may increase in temperature, and thus, extend out of a normal temperature range. Also, in a state in which the cooling of one storage compartment is required, if it is determined that the other storage compartment extends out of the normal temperature range, the other storage compartment may be not immediately cooled. As a result, in the structure in which the storage compartments are independently cooled, the cool air is not supplied at a suitable time and place causing a lack in refrigerant during the operation, thereby deteriorating operation efficiency of the refrigerator.
A flow adjustment part or flow adjuster disposed at an inlet-side of the plurality of evaporators to introduce the refrigerant into at least one evaporator of the plurality of evaporators may be provided. In the case of the refrigerator according to the related art, the flow adjustment part may not be maintained in physical balance, and thus, a relatively large amount of refrigerant may be introduced into one evaporator, and a relatively small amount of refrigerant may be introduced into the other evaporator.
In detail, the refrigerant heat-exchanged in the condenser may contain a gaseous refrigerant which is not completely condensed. That is, the refrigerant passing through the condenser may be a two-phase refrigerant containing liquid refrigerant and gaseous refrigerant. When the two-phase refrigerant is supplied into the flow adjustment part, and the flow adjustment part is not maintained in physical balance, the liquid refrigerant may be introduced into the evaporator connected to an inclined portion of the flow adjustment part, and the gaseous refrigerant may be introduced into the evaporator connected to a portion opposite to the inclined portion of the flow adjustment part. In this case, the evaporator in which the gaseous refrigerant is introduced may be deteriorated in heat-exchange efficiency.